OVER 50 YEARS OF REDEFINING COMMUNITY HEALTH THROUGH WHOLE PERSON CARE
Redefining community care since 1967
We’ve come a long way since we opened our doors as the Los Angeles Free Clinic in the Summer of Love, 1967. From a single storefront on Fairfax Avenue, we are now the Saban Community Clinic, with four health centers and one satellite site providing comprehensive medical, behavioral health and dental care plus access to social services.
While a lot has changed over the past 50 years, our founding belief remains the same: that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. The integrated and holistic approach to treating the entire individual, which we pioneered five decades ago, is practiced today as Whole Person Care.
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Video of how we started in 1968 Summer of Love and how far we’ve come!
TAKE OUR AMAZING 50-YEAR TOUR
Summer of Love 1967: LA Free Clinic opened offering medical care, therapy, job co-op & draft counseling to “counterculture” youth. Closed due to lack of funds. Re-opened in1968 with a $5,000 donation from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Dental department opens in 1968.
1967
Volunteers serve 110,000 people in first 3 years free of charge. Elvis walks in with $10,000 donation, requesting no PR.
1970
LA County cooperation begins. $10,000 grant from A&M Records funds drug abuse counseling. Friends of the LA Free Clinic board formed by Mimi West to professionalize fundraising and standard of care.
1973
Spacious new building bought at 8405 Beverly Blvd: funds raised by Mimi West and Seniel Ostrow. Patient population broadens from hippies to urban poor and homeless.
1975
Children’s Hospital partnerships: High Risk Youth program (‘82). Fellowship in Medicine program - UCLA students (‘84). Beverly building rebuilt to 3 stories, adds showers for homeless. Mimi West, Ellen Hoberman and Joel Schwartz chair campaign. Ted Kennedy officiates at opening. (’87)
1982-1987
S. Mark Taper Foundation supports further expansion with purchase of Hollywood site. High-risk youth program moves to community where it’s most needed, providing medical, HIV/AIDS care, education outreach, job preparation/placement.
1992
Mobile Multi-Services Center assists homeless. Clinic has 60 paid staff, $4 million budget and serves 40,000 patients a year. ’96: National “Models that Work” award. ‘97: Cedars-Sinai partnership – prenatal care for high-risk youth.
1994
30th Anniversary campaign raises $5 million to pay off Taper site mortgage. Lead gifts from Mimi and Bernie West, Barbara and Garry Marshall and Cheryl and Haim Saban fund pediatric dental, High Risk Youth Program and Women’s Wellness Clinic.
1997
Third site opens: Hollywood Wilshire Clinic. Unique public/private partnership increases number of patients seen by one third. Offers free vaccinations for kids and adults. Services added: Diabetes, hypertension, OB/GYN, insurance enrollment.
2002
Wallis Annenberg Children and Family Health Center opens with $17 million raised at 40th Anniversary. Campaign chair: Sam Fischer. Clinic gets face-lift on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
2007
$10 million from Cheryl & Haim Saban. The Clinic is re-named Saban Free Clinic in honor of largest individual donation received to date.
2008
Federally Qualified Health Center designation received, allowing the Clinic to apply for federal funding to offset costs and expand services. The Clinic is renamed Saban Community Clinic.
2012
Electronic Health Records transition completed at all three Clinic sites to further enable whole person care at cutting edge of technology.
2014
Our 50th Anniversary. With 220 employees and a $22 million budget the Clinic provides more than 100,000 patient visits per year.
2017
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